I would rather they burn down their own neighborhood rather than mine. Perhaps nothing will be burnt.
The good news is that they usually do stick to burning down their own neighborhoods.
The bad news is that, once they've burnt down their neighborhoods, the government comes in and spends our tax dollars to rebuild the neighborhood and create social programs to tell them it's not their fault that they burnt down their own neighborhood.
Many years ago, somebody came to me for parenting advice. They said that their child demanded they buy him an outrageously expensive pair of shoes that all the other kids were wearing.
When the parent told him no, he took a knife and cuts his shoes to shreds, thinking the parent would then have no choice but to buy him the expensive shoes.
My answer was to explain that she said no, and that the boy took it upon himself to destroy his shoes even after he had been told no.
I told her she should let him go to school in the torn up shoes for a week, then go buy him a cheap pair of shoes. Then, offer to help him find ways to earn some money to buy the shoes he wants.
This is what we need to tell them: you burnt down your own neighborhood. Either you find a way to fix it or you can live in the ashes.
